Pronk's homer punctuates sweep of Royals By Robert Falkoff / Special to MLB.com | 4/15/2012 8:20 PM ET KANSAS CITY -- The Indians made a statement with their offense over the weekend and Travis Hafner delivered the symbolic exclamation point. In Cleveland's 13-7 victory over the Royals on Sunday, Hafner launched the most majestic of his team's four homers. Hafner's 456-foot blast to right field in the fifth inning off Luis Mendoza traveled so far that it wound up as a souvenir inside Rivals Sports Bar, which is located high above the wall. No word on whether it came down in somebody's order of chicken wings. It was the first homer to land in the Rivals establishment since Kauffman Stadium was renovated in 2009. In short, Hafner got all of it and then some. "I was able to stay back on an off-speed pitch and backspin it," said Hafner, who finished 3-for-4. "I think there have been some [homers] before that measured in the 470s, but that's about as good as I can hit 'em." Shelley Duncan, Casey Kotchman and Jason Kipnis joined Hafner in the home run parade, as the Indians put up runs in bunches and applied the finishing touches on a three-game sweep. Right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, making his return from a five-game suspension, labored through five innings, but got the win thanks to robust offensive support. "The first three innings, it was hard to get in a good rhythm," said Jimenez, who refused to use rustiness as an excuse. "I didn't have command with my fastball." With the Tribe leading, 10-4, Jimenez took the mound for the fifth having thrown 96 pitches. He managed to get through the fifth unscathed while throwing 16 pitches, and therefore was rewarded with his first win of the season. "The fastball command was much better in my last two innings," Jimenez said. Although the Indians had to ask their bullpen for heavy duty in the final two games of the series, they still managed the series sweep thanks largely to a blossoming offense. The Indians scored eight or more runs in each game, marking the first time they've accomplished that feat in the opening three road games of a season. "It was great for us confidence-wise," Hafner said. "We feel like we have a good offense, with a bunch of guys capable of hitting 15 to 20 homers. We feel like we can keep it going from here." The Indians batted just .179 on their five-game homestand to open the season. But they got it rolling on Friday with a seven-run first inning, and had three more innings of four or more runs as the series continued. "Something we started last year was just worrying about having a quality at-bat," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "It's not basketball. The clock is not going to run out. The two-out rally is something we take pride in." The Indians were down 3-0 in the third and had two out and none on when Michael Brantley hit a chopper up the middle. Royals second baseman Chris Getz ranged behind second and made a strong off-balance throw that resulted in a bang-bang play at first. Brantley was called safe and Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer was adamant that the call was missed. Capitalizing on that opportunity, the Indians went on to score six runs. "He was out, a hundred percent," Hosmer said. "It's a big play for us six runs later. It's a great play by Getz. It definitely caught everybody off- guard, but it's a big break for them and it hurt us big-time." Kansas City manager Ned Yost said that regardless of the Brantley call, his club should have been able to avoid giving up a big inning. "There are times when you get calls and times when you don't," Yost said. "If mistakes are made, you still have to cover it, and we didn't cover it." The Indians sensed another key moment when the usually sure-handed Hosmer dropped Duncan's foul popup after a long run toward the railing. Duncan promptly made the Royals pay by depositing a three-run homer into the left-field seats. "Certainly, you have to take advantage if you get any extra outs," Hafner said. "We swung the bats really well this series, but the key is that we've got to be consistent with it." Millwood, Masterson ready as Mariners host Tribe By Adam Berry / MLB.com | 4/15/2012 8:55 PM ET Kevin Millwood isn't spending much time thinking about his last start, nor is he putting a lot of thought into his past with the Indians, as the Tribe visit Seattle to kick off a three-game series on Tuesday. Millwood pitched for Cleveland in 2005 under current Seattle manager Eric Wedge and pitching coach Carl Willis, both of whom were with the Indians from 2003-09. Coming off a strong outing on Wednesday, in which he struck out seven over six innings of one-run ball, Millwood is far more focused on his start against his former team than the time he, Wedge and Willis spent with the Tribe. "I don't really know anybody over there anymore," the 37-year-old Millwood said. "We bring up some stories from that year and whatnot, but we don't really get a lot of time to sit down and reminisce. We definitely have a few stories from a while back." Millwood wasn't going to sit down and reminisce about his impressive Mariners debut, either, even though he did a nice job shutting down a potent Rangers lineup by retiring 16 of the 19 batters he faced. Millwood didn't receive a decision in the game. "That definitely gives me confidence, but it's not going to get me any outs the next game. My next start, I still got to do the same amount of work for the next one," Millwood said. "I feel like I located OK, I had good movement on my fastball and I was able to mix it up when I wanted to. "Next time out it's going to be pretty much all about locating. If I can locate my fastball, everything else kind of works from there." Millwood will line up opposite Indians right-hander Justin Masterson, who might be a little more willing to look back into the recent past than Millwood -- so long as you consider the recent past to be Masterson's excellent 2012 debut instead of his relatively mediocre performance on Wednesday. Masterson struck out 10 Blue Jays while giving up only one run on two hits and a walk over eight innings on April 5, but he coudln't repeat that success against the White Sox at home. Masterson allowed five runs (three earned) on eight hits with only two strikeouts over five innings. "I got what I wanted. They just didn't go exactly where I wanted them to go," the sinkerballer said, referring to the ground balls he induced. "You never assume that they'll find this hole, find this hole and then go to this hole and this hole. The ball's got to go to somebody some time." Indians: Homer-happy Tribe keeps going deep • The Indians homered in each of their first eight games this season, giving them 15 on the year -- tied for the most in the Majors. That's also the club's longest streak to start the year since 2006. Jason Kipnis is leading the way with three, and five Indians have clubbed two homers apiece: Asdrubal Cabrera, Shelley Duncan, Travis Hafner, Casey Kotchman and Carlos Santana. If Cleveland homers in its next two games, the Tribe will tie the second-longest such streak (nine games) in club history since at least 1918. The '02 Indians homered in 14 straight games to start the season. • The Indians scored eight or more runs in each game of their weekend sweep of the Royals. That's the first time in club history that Cleveland scored eight or more runs in its first three road games. Mariners: Wedge still tinkering with lineup • Wedge has had 11 games to get a feel for his hitters and how they might fit in his batting order, but that's not nearly enough time for the Mariners' skipper to make any final decisions. He's still toying with different ideas day to day based on his players' numbers against that day's starter, his gut feelings, their health and how they're holding up mentally. "Early on in the year, you're going to have to play more lineups -- especially when you have a young team, especially when you come out [of] Spring Training," Wedge said. "Also to make sure these guys get in there, you play them all spring and then they're not playing for a while." • The Mariners will be happy to see the Indians on Tuesday if only for one reason: They're not the A's. Seattle played Oakland in seven of its first 11 games to start the year, including the two-game opening series in Japan. "Geez, I feel like we've played them every game so far," first baseman Justin Smoak said with a smile. "And we've had ... what? Three Opening Days with them so far? One in Japan, one in Oakland and one here. So it's going to be nice not to see them for a while.